Quiet
by StellaNova-TheQuietOne
Summary: Dick, Barbara and domestic bliss. Features married!DickBabs.


**A/N** I've been lurking around this site for some time and figured it was time that I actually contributed something. Plus, I love Dick and Barbara- they're absolutely precious together! I've got a new found love for domestic fluff with my favorite couples, so- ta-da!- this was born.

Please, enjoy!

* * *

The window was open, allowing for a small breeze.

Dick yawned, stretching his arms up and over his head.

He rolled over, burrowing deeper under the covers and reaching out. His hand met empty air.

He was alone.

Dick blinked slowly, sitting up in bed.

There was an indent in the mattress beside him- a sign that his wife had, in fact, been there at one point, but she was there no longer.

He sighed, turning his head to look at the clock.

7 AM.

Really? With an amused shake of his head, he climbed out of bed.

He was already wearing rumpled shorts and a tee, so there was no point in changing into anything else before he exited the bedroom.

Barbara was sitting at the kitchen table. Several sheets of paper were spread out before her and she tapped the end of a pen against her bottom lip. A pair of glasses perched precariously on the bridge of her nose; she had gotten so absorbed in her work, letting them slide when she leaned over a particularly engrossing report, that she had failed to take the time to push them back up.

Dick smiled.

His wonderful, amazing workaholic. She really did look adorable when she got like this.

"Hey, you." He dropped down into the seat next to her, draping one arm around her shoulder, and pressing a tender kiss to her temple.

"Dick, stop!" She batted him away with her pen, though the attempts were only half-hearted. A grin danced on the corner of her lips.

Dick chuckled, ducking as she whapped him on the side of the head.  
"Isn't it too early to be out of bed?" he asked.

Barbara sighed, straightening her spine with a _pop._ She wheeled her chair an inch away from the table.

"I can't. There's too much that has to be sorted through."

"Speaking of which..." Dick slid the papers away from her.

"Hey!" Barbara reached to grab them back, but Dick stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"_Speaking of which,"_ Dick reiterated, "don't you have a computer to do this for you?"

She gave him a look that was equal parts amused and exasperated. "A computer doesn't do the work for you, Dick. It just makes it easier."

"Sometimes it does the work for you."

She gave a soft laugh- the sound itself was enough to widen Dick's grin. He loved it when she laughed.

"Unfortunately, this is all sensitive information that I have to go through long hand. I know a computer seems like the easiest way, but there are some things a machine can't pick up on."

Dick raised a brow, skeptically, and she laughed again, more heartily this time.

"Oh, you," she said. "These are just forms I have to fill out for my dad. I suppose I could have scanned them in and filled them out there, but you can't beat old-fashioned pen and ink now, can you?"

"So, then," Dick tweaked a lock of hair, "it's nothing urgent that warrants waking up at 7 AM?"

Barbara sighed, shaking her head. "Couldn't sleep."

Dick took her hand, giving it a soft squeeze.

Barbara looked at him, surprised, but she didn't pull her hand away.

"Was it nightmares?" he asked seriously.

When she didn't answer, he pressed on, "I know you have them, Barbara, even if you don't talk about them."

_I wish you would_ hung unspoken between them.

"But you bury yourself in your work, staying up late and waking up early and it worries me."

He grasped her hands earnestly with both of his.

"We're in this together now, Babs. For life. Please, if this is… if this is something I can help you with, _let me."_

He saw her hand move to her abdomen, resting where he knew the scar from the Joker's bullet was. His stomach clenched.

"I…" She struggled to find the words to speak. "I do have nightmares," she confessed. "But that's not what woke me up this morning."

Dick pushed her hair behind her ear. "I believe you," he told her gently. "But even if that's the case, you still need your sleep." He looked at the papers. "Can you put those off for a few hours?"

Her eyes flickered to the papers, then back to him. "I suppose…" she said cautiously.

He lit up.

"Great!" Jumping to his feet, he gently scooped her up into a bridal carry.

With a startled yelp, her arms flew around his neck. "Dick!" she cried.

"Shhhh." He silenced her with a gentle peck on her nose. "Breakfast in bed?"

"That…" She blinked. Obviously, the sleep deprivation was catching up to her because she was _never _that slow to answer.

No matter. All the more reason to get her to lie down.

Finally, she asked, "Will there be coffee."

"_Geez!"_ If both hands hadn't currently been employed in keeping his wife from falling, he would have facepalmed then and there. "You and Tim both, I swear! If the point is to help you get more rest, wouldn't coffee be detrimental to that effect?"

Barbara fought a yawn. "Didn't have a chance to… make coffee yet."

"Yeah, yeah." Dick pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Tell you what? I'll make you breakfast, then I'll clean the apartment while you sleep and _then,_" he smiled down at her, "when you wake up, I'll have the hottest, _strongest _cup of coffee you ever wanted waiting for you. Black. Just the way you like it."

"That sounds wonderful." Barbara rested her head on his shoulder. "You really are the most amazing man in the world."

Dick beamed, feeling his heart swell in his chest.

"Yeah." He grinned cheekily. "I know."


End file.
